AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

Geoff Bennett is away.

On the "News Hour" tonight: The FBI now says the New Orleans attacker acted alone, but was inspired by ISIS.

What we know about the suspect and his path to radicalization.

We examine the complex legacy of President Biden's 50 years in public office as he prepares to leave the White House.

And two-year colleges try to fill a shortage of manufacturing jobs by showing how the field isn't what it used to be.

ZANE DECKER, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College: There's a big skills gap, where we need to get this younger generation to replace these people who are retiring.

AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Answers slowly began to trickle out today after the deadly New Year's truck attack in New Orleans.

Officials revised the death toll down to 14 victims, plus the suspect.

They also gave more details about his activities in the hours before the attack.

Laura Barron-Lopez begins our coverage from New Orleans.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: As the sun rose over New Orleans this morning, the French Quarter, known for its parties and bustling crowds, was eerily quiet and under tight security, residents, business owners and tourists coming to terms with the deadly New Year's attack on Bourbon Street.

GUY LAMOTHE, New Orleans Tour Guide: Sadly, this attack was not against New Orleans.

It was against the nation.

And, sadly, it occurred here.

DICKIE BRENNAN, Restaurant Owner: We can't replace these lives, but we can make it better than we found it.

And I think that's what New Orleans is great at doing.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: While the city grieved, law enforcement officials pieced together a picture of the suspect, 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. born Army veteran.

CHRISTOPHER RAIA, Deputy FBI Assistant Director: This was an act of terrorism.

It was premeditated and an evil act.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Christopher Raia of the FBI's counterterrorism division said the agency now believes Jabbar acted alone, reversing its position from yesterday.

Raia detailed the latest timeline at a press conference this morning.

He said Jabbar rented the white pickup truck used in the attack in Houston Monday, and on Tuesday night drove it to New Orleans.

Then, in the hours before the attack, he posted five videos online, proclaiming his support for ISIS.

CHRISTOPHER RAIA: In the first video, Jabbar explains he originally planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned the news headlines would not focus on the -- quote -- "war between the believers and the disbelievers" -- end quote.

Additionally, he stated he had joined ISIS before this summer.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: In addition to an ISIS flag, authorities found guns and an apparent explosive device in Jabbar's truck.

Today, the FBI's Raia said there's also footage of Jabbar putting explosives in coolers at two locations in the French Quarter.

He said initial reporting that accomplices placed coolers was untrue.

Authorities have received more than 400 tips and are now examining Jabbar's laptops and phones.

President Biden addressed the attacks today in remarks at the White House.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: The people of New Orleans are sending an unmistakable message.

They will not let this attack or the attacks -- attacker's deluded ideology overcome us.

We're going to continue to relentlessly pursue ISIS and other terrorist organizations where they are, and they will find no safe harbor here.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: As the day wore on in the French Quarter, there were signs of a slow return to normal, with Bourbon Street reopening to the public.

Freddie King III represents this part of the French Quarter on the New Orleans City Council.

FREDDIE KING III, New Orleans, Louisiana, City Councilman: Never anticipated that this would be an act of terror, that it was something that was done intentionally.

That's -- those kind of things just don't happen in New Orleans.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: King is focused on what needs to be done moving forward, including increasing protection for Bourbon Street and the entire French Quarter.

FREDDIE KING III: I understand it's human nature to want to get answers, to want to find out who's to blame and how that has happened, to point fingers.

I just don't think that that's warranted here.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: How has the community and the people of New Orleans responded to this attack?

FREDDIE KING III: Like we always do.

Like we did for Katrina, like we did for Hurricane Ida and everything in between.

We rally around each other.

We support those who need support.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Meanwhile, the Sugar Bowl football game postponed from yesterday due to the attack kicked off this afternoon, with fans swarming downtown New Orleans, though with a heavier police presence.

LATOYA CANTRELL, Mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana: The city of New Orleans, we're resilient.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell: LATOYA CANTRELL: I want to reassure the public that the city of New Orleans is not only ready for game day today, but we're ready to continue to host large-scale events in our city, because we are built to host at every single turn.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: But Cantrell said the focus must remain on the victims and their families as details emerged about some of those killed.

Among them, Reggie Hunter, a 37-year-old father of two from Baton Rouge, Nikyra Dedeaux, an 18-year-old aspiring nurse from Mississippi, Nicole Perez, a single mother of a 4-year-old, and Tiger Bech, a 27-year-old from Lafayette, Louisiana, who played football at Princeton.

AMNA NAWAZ: And Laura Barron-Lopez joins us now from New Orleans.

So, Laura, you are on the newly reopened Bourbon Street right now.

Just tell us what it's like there at the moment.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Amna, here on Bourbon Street, we're exactly where the suspect drove onto the sidewalk.

And it's slowly reopening here.

There are a lot of people out enjoying themselves.

And they're -- it's slowly returning to normal on Bourbon Street.

You can see, though, that there are more barricades here than there were previously to my right, which there are some yellow barricades on the sidewalk now that were not there previously because of the fact that the suspect was able to drive onto the sidewalk when he conducted the attack.

AMNA NAWAZ: I know you have been talking to some residents there, to city leaders as well.

What are you hearing from them about what they have seen in the way of a response so far and also what they want to see happen next?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Many of the people that we spoke to said that they never expected a terror attack here in the French Quarter in New Orleans.

And that's the new reality that they're living with now.

However, a lot of the people we spoke to, business owners, residents, elected officials, said that they felt that the police acted quickly, that they were mostly happy with the city's response.

My producer, Mary Fecteau, did speak to a tour guide and the tour guide told her that New Orleans has always been a place where people come and are able to feel free and they come and they're able to enjoy themselves.

And it typically is a celebratory city, and that that's been tainted a little bit.

But, overall, Amna, people feel as though New Orleans is going to be resilient and respond forcefully and try to go back to life as normal.

One of the councilmembers that I spoke to, Councilmember Freddie King, who represents this area of New Orleans, said that he wants to see more permanent barriers placed on Bourbon Street, specifically, on the sidewalks, and that he is hopeful that the city can create a plan that maybe other cities can replicate in times of terror attacks like this one.

AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, as the authorities learn more about the attack, they have been sharing more of those details.

What new details have we learned?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Amna, today we learned that the suspect was 100 percent inspired by ISIS.

The FBI said that today.

They also told -- the FBI also briefed House lawmakers and told those lawmakers, according to sources, in that briefing that the suspect was inspired by ISIS, but so far there's no evidence that he took direction from ISIS or any other foreign contacts.

And that's something that is going to continue to be investigated.

President Biden said today that he wants the FBI, as well as the intel community, to continue to investigate any potential contacts that the suspect had as well.

And President Biden also revealed today that there was a remote detonator inside the suspect's vehicle that would have been used to set off the explosives that were placed in two nearby areas in the French Quarter.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, that is Laura Barron-Lopez reporting from the scene of that horrific attack in New Orleans.

Laura, thank you.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Law enforcement provided new details today on another disturbing incident from yesterday, a Cybertruck that exploded in front of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas.

Police identified the man who was driving the truck as 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger, an active-duty member of the Army's elite Special Forces.

Police said that he shot himself in the head before a device detonated a combination of fireworks, gas, and camping fuel in the bed of the vehicle.

Joe Schoenmann of Nevada Public Radio has been reporting on this, and I spoke with him earlier.

Joe, welcome to the "News Hour."

Thank you for being with us.

So we now know the identity of this suspect.

What more did law enforcement have to say today about who this guy is and more about his background?

JOE SCHOENMANN, Nevada Public Radio: Well, he has an extensive career in the military.

Beginning in 2006, he was a Green Beret.

And I'm going to take a look at some of my notes here, a Green Beret active-duty special operations soldier.

He'd been based in Germany.

He was back on approved leave in Fort Collins, Colorado, when he rented this Cybertruck through this organization or through this company called Turo.

And he just has an extensive, extensive 19-year military background with no previous issues and no criminal activity that they could find in his background.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, one of the biggest questions people have had is whether there's any kind of connection between what happened here in this particular incident and also the attack in New Orleans.

Did law enforcement have anything to say about that today?

JOE SCHOENMANN: They really did.

Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said he knows, and they have all been watching what's happening on social media.

They're reading everything, and people are making these connections, because both of these men had once been stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Both of them served in Afghanistan in the same year, but they have also found no overlap between the two, no probable connections or communications between the two.

But they said, these are such coincidences that they're looking more into it.

AMNA NAWAZ: So what kind of questions did people have today that law enforcement still doesn't have answers for, and where does the investigation go next?

JOE SCHOENMANN: Motive.

The FBI special agent in charge of Las Vegas area came on and said they are searching literally worldwide for motive, to see if there's a motive.

One of the reporters asked if this was specifically a suicide mission.

And Sheriff McMahill said -- would only call it a suicide.

And somebody else asked whether or not this truck had been purchased specifically because it would allow the explosion to go up rather than out, because the explosion went up.

The size of this truck were so strong that it didn't blow outwards and cause a lot of damage to nearby.

AMNA NAWAZ: Joe, we also know the law enforcement's been searching the suspect's home in Colorado.

Did we learn anything about that?

JOE SCHOENMANN: All they could talk about is that they are searching the home, but they didn't have any kind of information to bring forth.

Again, Sheriff Kevin McMahill said, they have started this investigation, but they haven't even started looking at phone records yet.

They haven't even gotten into any of the computer information that either of these people, one in New Orleans or one here, have might have logged on their computers.

So they're really at the very start of this investigation.

AMNA NAWAZ: And, Joe, since you're there, just tell us, what's the reaction been like on the ground as people are trying to figure out exactly what happened here?

JOE SCHOENMANN: You know, they went through the shooting here in 2017 when 58 people were killed on the Las Vegas Strip.

The pandemic, Las Vegas was one of the hardest hit places in the country.

And I think people are just in a quandary.

I think people realize this -- they're starting to realize this was isolated incident.

The sheriff made that very clear.

They don't see any other suspects.

They have no evidence of anybody else involved.

So I think people feel safe.

They're just wondering, why here?

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, Joe Schoenmann of Nevada Public Radio joining us tonight.

Joe, thank you.

We really appreciate your time.

JOE SCHOENMANN: You're welcome.

AMNA NAWAZ: As we have now heard, the suspect in Las Vegas and the man who committed the terrorist attack in New Orleans both served in the military.

To examine that side of the story, we turn now to Nick Schifrin -- Nick.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Amna, as we have said, there is no connection, according to law enforcement, between the two men, but their military services did overlap.

So is there a pattern we can discern?

And what are some of the possible reasons that veterans or active-duty soldiers could turn to extremism?

For perspective, we turn to Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism.

Heidi Beirich, thanks very much.

Welcome back to the "News Hour."

Let's focus on New Orleans for a second, Shamsud-Din Jabbar.

Does his history, in your opinion, fit a pattern of men who become radicalized?

HEIDI BEIRICH, Global Project Against Hate and Extremism: There -- yes, there are parts of his recent history that are very common to all kinds of types of folks that have been radicalized, whether white supremacists or Islamic extremists or otherwise.

What I'm talking about is the collapse of his family background, his multiple divorces, financial problems.

We find a lot of times that mass attackers have this kind of collapse in their family life going on.

And then there's the issue of him being a veteran and if that might have played a role.That's also something that comes up in a lot of mass attacks.

NICK SCHIFRIN: I'm going to examine the veteran aspect in a second, but let's just listen to how Jabbar described himself back when he was selling real estate.

SHAMSUD-DIN JABBAR, New Orleans Attack Suspect: So not only do I brilliantly market your property to make sure it gets sold as quickly as possible or gets leased as quickly as possible, but I'm also going to take every ounce of energy and put it into negotiating for you and for your property to get the best deal that you can possibly get for it.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And let me read a statement on X today from Rich Groen, Jabbar's former commander.

He wrote -- quote -- "He," Jabbar, "was a great soldier, someone who showed discipline and dedication.

To think that the same individual who once embodied quiet professionalism could harbor so much hate, leading to such unspeakable atrocities, is incomprehensible and heartbreaking.

Please watch out for one another.

Don't let hate take root, either in your own heart or in the hearts of those around you."

How do you explain when you hear the tone of that statement and watch the tone of that video with what he ended up doing?

HEIDI BEIRICH: I know it's hard for a lot of people to believe that someone who is acting completely normally, even praiseworthy, as the commander said about Jabbar, could unravel to the point of committing violence.

But it does happen.

It's often precipitated with some sort of online radicalization that drives people down a rabbit hole.

They're already desperate for various reasons, and a particular extremist ideology calls to them in some way.

And that looks like what might have happened in this case.

And I know how incongruous it is, but it really does happen.

NICK SCHIFRIN: So, let's talk about the veterans angle now.

Data from the University of Maryland shows that, since 2010, a larger number of veterans have been arrested, charged, or died in an extremist attack than before 2010.

Do we know why?

HEIDI BEIRICH: Well, I think it has to do with a few things.

One, extremist groups are recruiting online in a way that they couldn't before, so they suck people into these movements.

They're targeting veterans as well specifically.

And, also, the military has, frankly, not done a good job of rooting out extremism in its ranks in recent years.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Let's bring now the explosion in Las Vegas.

The suspect there, Matthew Alan Livelsberger, was an active-duty sergeant in Special Forces.

Again, there is no known connection with Jabbar, but both Jabbar and Livelsberger served in Afghanistan in 2009, although in different areas, and both served at Fort Bragg, now known as Fort Liberty, but, again, at different times.

Is there any evidence that soldiers or veterans turn to violence in rates or ways that are different than those with no connection to the military?

HEIDI BEIRICH: The rate of extremism is around the same within the military as outside of the military, according to research that's been done.

The problem is that somebody who has military training who gets radicalized can be far more deadly.

And we know that mass attacks that are perpetrated by active-duty military or veterans are more lethal than those that aren't.

That's really what the problem is.

And that's what needs to be focused on.

We don't want to unleash people with military skills who then are radicalized or have already been radicalized on the American public.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Heidi Beirich, thank you very much.

HEIDI BEIRICH: Thanks.

AMNA NAWAZ: We start the day's other news in the Gaza Strip, where the new year has brought more death and destruction.

Palestinian health officials say Israeli airstrikes killed at least 40 people today.

One of those strikes hit a tent camp that Israel has designated as a safe zone.

Israel says the attack killed two high-ranking members of the Hamas police force.

Officials on the ground say the death toll was 10 people, including three children.

As the sun rose on the second day of 2025, Ziyad Abu Jabal emerged from his tent in Southern Gaza's Al-Mawasi camp still in shock.

ZIYAD ABU JABAL, Displaced Gazan (through translator): We were sleeping.

Everyone was taking shelter in their tents from the cold, and suddenly we found the world turning upside down.

Why and for what?

AMNA NAWAZ: Witnesses say the predawn Israeli attack came without warning.

Some scrambled to put out fires, while others carried away the dead and the injured.

The camp, which Israel had designated as a safe zone, is located by the sea west of Khan Yunis.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have relocated there to ride out the cold and wet Mediterranean winter.

Israel says one of the Hamas policemen killed in today's strike helped to gather intelligence to carry out attacks on Israeli troops.

DAVID MENCER, Spokesperson, Israeli Prime Minister's Office: Where did we find him?

Where else but of course hiding in the humanitarian zone in Khan Yunis, where Gazans are sheltering from this war.

AMNA NAWAZ: But among the dead were three children from one family, Ahmed, Mohammed and Abdul Rahman al-Bardawil.

At their funeral today, each received one final kiss from their mother and father.

WALID AL-BARDAWIL, Father of Children Killed in Strike (through translator): We woke up to the sound of the strike at around 1:20 a.m. at that time, I called on the children, but no one answered.

The three of them had been sleeping next to each other.

AMNA NAWAZ: Israel also struck the Hamas-run Interior Ministry headquarters in Khan Yunis early today.

Nearby tents were damaged by the blast.

In Central Gaza, at least eight people were killed in a strike in Deir al Balah.

Hospital officials say the victims were members of a local committee that helped secure aid convoys.

As the war grinds into a new year, Israel announced that it will send negotiators to Doha tomorrow in an effort to make a breakthrough in cease-fire talks before President Biden leaves office.

Also today, events are unfolding fast in South Korea, where investigators are aiming to carry out a warrant to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.

It's part of their investigation into whether Yoon's declaration of martial law last month amounts to rebellion.

It's not clear at this hour whether the president will cooperate with the authorities.

Yoon has remained defiant, writing in a letter to supporters that he would -- quote -- "fight until the end against anti-state forces."

Yoon's legal team even warned that any officers trying to detain him could face arrest themselves by his security team.

This comes as pro- and anti-Yoon protesters have been gathering outside his residence in Seoul.

Yoon himself said he's been watching the scene via YouTube and applauded his supporters' efforts.

His future ultimately lies in the hands of the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberations on whether to formally remove him from office or reinstate him.

At the White House this evening, President Biden awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal to 20 people who -- quote -- "performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens."

Among them were Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson and former Representative Liz Cheney, a Republican.

Both received standing ovations.

In 2022, they led a congressional investigation into the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Their final report found that then-President Trump engaged in a multipart conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump has said that both Thompson and Cheney should be put in jail.

In New York, police say that 10 people were hurt in a shooting outside a nightclub in Jamaica, Queens.

Officials say three or four men approached a group of people waiting outside the club late last night before firing some 30 shots.

The gunmen then fled on foot.

Six women and four men between the ages of 16 and 20 were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police say that the motive is unclear, but the shooting is not considered an act of terrorism.

Tesla reported a drop in sales last year for the first time in more than a dozen years.

The electric automaker delivered just under 1.8 million vehicles in 2024.

That's about 1 percent lower than the year before.

A strong fourth quarter failed to offset the company's slow start to 2024.

The dip in sales comes as Tesla faces weakening demand for electric vehicles in the U.S. and worldwide.

It's also battling increased competition from legacy automakers and start-ups in China, Europe and the U.S. On Wall Street today, stocks started the new year of trading on a sluggish note.

The Dow Jones industrial average gave back about 150 points.

The Nasdaq slipped exactly 30 points on the day.

The S&P 500 fell for a fifth straight session.

And a passing of note: Agnes Keleti, a Holocaust survivor and the oldest living Olympic medalist, has died.

Born in Budapest in 1921, her life as an aspiring young gymnast was upended by World War II.

She was forced out of the sport for being Jewish and into hiding under a new name.

After the war, Agnes Keleti returned to gymnastics and went on to win 10 Olympic medals, five of them gold.

She then settled in Israel, where for decades she coached and helped to build its gymnastics programs.

Even well into her 90s, Keleti could still hit her splits.

In 2021, on the eve of her 100th birthday, she told the Associated Press about the importance of physical fitness.

AGNES KELETI, Olympic Gold Medal Winner (through translator): I wish you all good health.

Health is the most important.

Without it, there is nothing.

These 100 years feel to me like 60.

I live well and I love life.

AMNA NAWAZ: Agnes Keleti was hospitalized with pneumonia on Christmas Day and reportedly died this morning in Budapest.

She was 103 years old.

Still to come on the "News Hour": the rise in demand for weight loss drugs prompts questions about access and affordability; and how Barnes & Noble is trying to revitalize its image.

President Joe Biden's five-decade-long tenure in public service comes to an end later this month, spanning four years as president, eight as second in command and many more serving his home state of Delaware in the U.S. Senate.

To examine the president's time in office and his legacy, I'm joined now by two reporters who have covered his career extensively.

Dan Balz is chief correspondent for The Washington Post and has covered Mr. Biden for decades.

And Annie Linskey covers the White House for The Wall Street Journal.

Welcome to you both.

Thanks for being here.

DAN BALZ, The Washington Post: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Dan, I want to start with you, because Mr. Biden has spent 50 years, over half his life, in public service.

He was first elected at just 27 years old to a Delaware County Council seat, three years later, became one of the youngest senators in U.S. history, clearly had big ambitions from the beginning.

But, in those early years, how did he put his stamp on Washington?

DAN BALZ: You know, it's very interesting.

His career almost ended before it started because of the tragedy of his wife and daughter being killed in an auto accident and his two sons being badly injured.

He thought about resigning even before he had been sworn in.

He was talked out of that by Mike Mansfield, who was the Senate majority leader at the time, who kind of took him under his wing and guided him through that first very difficult year in the Senate.

And I think that made him kind of a creature of the Senate.

And over the years, he embedded himself on two very important committees, one, Foreign Relations, and, second, the Judiciary Committee.

And this allowed him to develop expertise in obviously two very significant areas.

He was very active on Supreme Court nominations.

He was very active in the 1994 crime bill.

And, on foreign policy, he was -- he was in and out of many, many crises, wars in the Middle East and other issues.

And so that time in the Senate gave him expertise that he later applied to the presidency.

But I think it also gave him a sense of the rhythm of Washington and the rhythm of the legislative branch, which also served him while he's been in the White House.

AMNA NAWAZ: Annie, Dan mentioned that loss early in his life, in his career, losing his wife and his daughter, later, years later, losing his son Beau as well, this idea of grief kind of being a common theme throughout his life.

How did that shape his views and his leadership?

ANNIE LINSKEY, The Wall Street Journal: Yes, it was very much -- grief very much has been a theme that has run through his time in office and his presidency.

It's something he talks a lot about.

And when you think back to the 2020 presidential campaign, the country was in the midst of a pandemic.

There were -- tens of thousands of people were dying or died of COVID.

And the president was able to connect to voters over grief.

He was able to really feel their pain in a way and convince them and empathize with them and convince them that he was a person who could really lead the country out of this pandemic.

Ultimately, when the pandemic ended -- and his administration deserves a lot of credit for getting vaccines out the door -- he struggled to connect with voters on sort of the next level, on the next thing.

But it was his empathy that really swept him into office.

And then one of his very final acts in office, I think, was steered by his connection to his family and his knowledge of the -- and this deep pain and loss he has felt.

And that is when he decided to pardon his son Hunter Biden.

AMNA NAWAZ: And, Dan, we mentioned, obviously, he was vice president, second in command for eight years under Barack Obama, but he'd clearly long held presidential ambitions of his own.

You covered that Democratic primary back in 1988, when he first ran for office, ran again in 2008 and then, of course, finally won in 2020.

So for this man to reach that level, to win presidential office after all of those years, what did it mean and how did it inform how he held the role and holds the role?

DAN BALZ: You know, Amna, long before he ran for president, he was talked about as a presidential candidate.

In the early and mid-'80s, it was clear that he had presidential ambitions.

He may have arrived in the Senate with presidential ambitions.

If he hadn't, it took him only a few hours to get them.

(LAUGHTER) DAN BALZ: Not uncommon for people in the Senate and people in public life.

But, nonetheless, he had long wanted to be president.

But I think, in 2020, he was determined to do it.

For one reason, it was the brass ring that he had never quite captured.

A second reason was, I think he did it because of Beau, that Beau had basically said -- it's the title of his memoir: Promise me, dad, that you will stay in public life and perhaps run for president.

And as he has said many times, it was Donald Trump and Charlottesville that finally persuaded him to do that.

But he was ready to be president.

I mean, he had long served in the Senate, eight years as vice president.

He felt he was fully prepared.

He felt he was the person to beat Donald Trump in 2020.

And I think he came in with a sense of what he wanted to do, some of which he was able to do, a lot of which he wasn't quite able to do for a variety of reasons, some through his own missteps and failings, and some simply because no president ever gets to do everything they hope to do.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, Annie, pick up where Dan left off there.

In terms of finally making it to the highest office in the land, where did you see Mr. Biden's biggest accomplishments come through in terms of what he prioritized, where he spent his political capital, and what's left undone?

ANNIE LINSKEY: The first two years of his presidency was him and his team wrestling with members of Congress, going back and forth, and passing a legislation to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to the United States, to fix roads and bridges, getting an infrastructure bill passed to usher in a new kind of green, clean economy, something that he's very proud of.

So that was a major, major accomplishment for this White House.

And when you turn to foreign policy, he did expand NATO.

He led the efforts to sort of rebuild U.S. relations with other countries, with foreign countries.

He really struggled to tell a story about what he was doing and what he wanted to do.

And that struggle was in part because of his experience in the Senate, but in part some of his own deficiencies, and has -- and the decline, his age-related decline, which has sort of been well-documented over the last few months, but really started much, much earlier than the White House at least has acknowledged.

AMNA NAWAZ: And, Dan, this brings us now to where we are at the closing days of his time in office.

As Annie mentioned, this is probably not the way in which he saw his career ending.

He ended his bid for a second time, a second term in office just 100 days before the election, under pressure from his own party and others and those questions about his age.

How do you look at this idea of legacy, of how people will remember his time in office?

DAN BALZ: It's complicated, as it is with most presidents.

I think Annie has ticked through major accomplishments, which he will always be able to point to.

I think the assembling of a coalition to defend Ukraine against the Russian invasion was a significant step forward and something for which he won a lot of praise overseas.

But there were some deficiencies.

One was in passing all of the legislation that they did in the first couple of years.

That helped to trigger the inflation that came back to haunt the administration.

And I think that they were not as cognizant of that as they might have been.

He was slow to deal with the immigration issue, which cost the Democrats politically in the 2020 election.

And I think this issue of whether he should have run for a second term or not will always be a question that will be debated about his legacy.

You're right.

This is not the way he wanted to end.

He obviously has thought and I think continues to think that, had he run, this time around, he might have won and that would be a second Biden term.

I think a lot of people question that, whether he would have done any better or perhaps worse than Vice President Harris.

So it's mixed.

And, as I say, he will be able to point to many things that he did which were positive, but there will always be some downsides to that presidency, and as they always are when somebody ends up as a one-term president.

AMNA NAWAZ: Especially over five decades in public service as well.

DAN BALZ: Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: Dan Balz, Annie Linskey, my thanks to you both.

Really appreciate your time.

DAN BALZ: Thank you.

ANNIE LINSKEY: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the next decade, millions of manufacturers in the next decade, millions of manufacturing jobs will open up in the U.S. as workers retire.

Meanwhile, the sector is also supposed to add more jobs with help from federal subsidies.

But, by some current estimates, only half of those jobs will be filled.

So where will the workers needed come from?

Well, how about some two-year colleges like Cincinnati State?

Our economics correspondent, Paul Solman, paid a visit in search of hope for the future.

ZANE DECKER, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College: It had to have three wheels.

It had to be a gas motor, and it has to have a wheelie bar, because these things do wheelies.

PAUL SOLMAN: We used to say when I was a kid, cool as a moose.

Not exactly your grandparents' shop class here at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College.

ZANE DECKER: The students have two semesters to design and build this.

Semester one, they design everything you're sitting on.

PAUL SOLMAN: Zane Decker now runs part of the program he himself recently graduated from, teaching skills much in demand these days.

ZANE DECKER: And let's go ahead and look at the simulation and see how it looks.

PAUL SOLMAN: Schools like Cincinnati State are key training grounds to prepare students for manufacturing jobs for which there just aren't enough workers these days, like at GE Aviation, a partner to this program.

The job gap is especially important here in Ohio.

America's third most manufacturing-heavy state.

ZANE DECKER: Demand is just skyrocketing for this.

And if you went back 20 years ago, there wasn't as much demand as there is today.

ANDREW LAKES, College Student: That tool right there is called an eighth-inch ball mill.

PAUL SOLMAN: Demand for the likes of 20-year-old Andrew Lakes.

ANDREW LAKES: And it turns that software into G-code.

And this is what G-code is right now.

And it's reading all those lines of code.

And that line of code tells us what that tool is going to do.

PAUL SOLMAN: Which is?

ANDREW LAKES: I'm building a pocket knife handle.

PAUL SOLMAN: A pocket knife handle?

ANDREW LAKES: Yes, as you can see right here, I have a few prototypes, right now working on my finishing product.

PAUL SOLMAN: So this is -- you -- your finger goes there?

Is that... ANDREW LAKES: Yes.

PAUL SOLMAN: His first foray, a flop.

ANDREW LAKES: Here, you can say I went a little too deep.

PAUL SOLMAN: Right over there, huh?

ANDREW LAKES: Ended up breaking a tool.

PAUL SOLMAN: You broke a tool?

ANDREW LAKES: Yes, I broke the tool.

PAUL SOLMAN: Is that humiliating or... ANDREW LAKES: Yes, a little bit, but you learn from your mistakes and you learn to move on and what to do better next time.

PAUL SOLMAN: Rather more challenging, a working race buggy.

This is last year's model.

AMY GUTMANN FUENTES, College Student: Next year's car, which is what I'm working on and is what I'm designing, is going to be so small that it's going to be able to fit inside of this car.

PAUL SOLMAN: Amy Gutmann Fuentes, also a student here.

And you're going to build the whole thing?

AMY GUTMANN FUENTES: Yes.

PAUL SOLMAN: And then what do you do with it?

AMY GUTMANN FUENTES: Then we will race it.

PAUL SOLMAN: In the spring at college Baja competitions like this one.

And how do you expect to do with one of these things in the spring?

AMY GUTMANN FUENTES: I think we're going to crush it because we're one of two or three community colleges that compete alongside these major universities with huge budgets, and we have done pretty well.

So I think this new car is going to be, like, the best.

PAUL SOLMAN: Baja racers and knife handles are just a few lures for students to attend this program and acquire skills for America's supposed manufacturing renaissance.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. President-Elect: We're going to launch a historic buildup of American manufacturing muscle and might.

PAUL SOLMAN: But there's a big problem.

What we hear, what we read is that there's a real shortage of people going into manufacturing, while lots of people are retiring from manufacturing.

ZANE DECKER: Yes.

PAUL SOLMAN: Not the case?

ZANE DECKER: It's absolutely the case.

We have all these people retiring that have the skills.

We have got this younger generation that there's a big skills gap, where we need to get this younger generation to replace these people who are retiring.

PAUL SOLMAN: Where better to get the skill than at America's community colleges, where nearly nine million students pay a tiny fraction the cost of a four-year degree?

And how much does it cost to be here?

ANDREW LAKES: For me, it costs about three grand a semester.

PAUL SOLMAN: For a job that pays?

ANDREW LAKES: After I graduate, I'm expected to make about $26 to $27 on the hour.

PAUL SOLMAN: So $26, $27 an hour, $50,000, $60,000 a year, right?

ANDREW LAKES: Roughly, yes.

PAUL SOLMAN: And for around here, that's good money?

ANDREW LAKES: Yes, especially for someone my age.

PAUL SOLMAN: Especially for starting pay in Ohio.

MONICA POSEY, President, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College: We really emphasize preparing students for the work force of the future, because our job is to meet the needs of the local economy.

PAUL SOLMAN: Monica Posey, president of Cincinnati State.

MONICA POSEY: Eighty-five to 90 percent of our students stay in this area and work.

And we have great partnership with employers and they tell us what they need, what we should be investing in, what we should do.

PAUL SOLMAN: But -- and here's the crux of this story -- Zane Decker's classes are undersubscribed, cutting-edge skills, good jobs, lack of workers nationwide, and yet not enough young people in the pipeline.

How many of you think that people like yourselves aren't here because manufacturing is uncool?

Uncool?

No?

Because it's too hard?

Really, almost everybody.

Because they just don't know about it?

That too.

I put the same questions to the teacher, Zane Decker.

ZANE DECKER: We have got to work on changing and really having people realize that, if you look around the shop, it's not all that dirty.

People are out there challenging themselves.

They're spending half the time on the computer, half the time on the shop floor.

I think if we can show young people that this is a viable career and the training is available for it, we can fill that gap.

PAUL SOLMAN: But we're not.

We're nowhere near there yet, right?

ZANE DECKER: Yes, we're not there yet.

I think a lot of it is just the stigma around this field and getting people to realize that it's a much nicer job than it used to be 50 years ago.

PAUL SOLMAN: And, as President Monica Posey says, Cincinnati State gets federal and state funding to do so.

MONICA POSEY: We're recruiting and we're doing everything we can to invest in it, but we also know that we need to recast manufacturing in terms of student and families, their attitude about the industry.

PAUL SOLMAN: But still not an easy sell, even with incentives like this one, which literally anybody can drive, and, if you spend four semesters here while prepping to propel America's proposed manufacturing future, you can even build.

For the "PBS News Hour," Paul Solman, risking my neck to amuse you in Cincinnati, Ohio.

AMNA NAWAZ: 2024 was a big year for weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.

More patients are relying on them to manage their weight, treat diabetes or prevent heart attacks and strokes.

And while they are highly effective, they also come with some concerns.

William Brangham has more on the rising demand for these drugs, which are part of a class of medications known as GLP-1.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: About one in eight U.S. adults now say they have taken a GLP-1.

But amid all the excitement about their efficacy, some experts also say it's important to keep in mind some of the drugs' limits, their costs, and to better understand where they belong in the nation's long fight against obesity.

For a check-in on where this all stands, we are joined now by Dr. Jody Dushay.

She's an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a clinical endocrinologist who specializes in medical weight management Dr. Dushay, so nice to have you on the program.

You prescribe these drugs to some of your patients.

From your perspective, what do they do?

How effective are they, especially at helping people lose weight?

DR. JODY DUSHAY, Division of Nutrition, Harvard Medical School: Well first, I want to say thank you very much for having me.

It's a pleasure to be on the show.

And, also, I just want to mention that I don't have any conflicts of interest.

So, in terms of how these medications work and how effective they are, a lot of times, what I will hear is patients using the same words to describe how they work.

So people will tell me that they have reduced cravings, that they think about food less.

A lot -- there's been use of this term food noise.

So people will tell me that they have a lot less food noise, so they are thinking about food a lot less, whereas, maybe, before, you wake up in the morning and you're thinking about what you're going to have for breakfast.

While you're having breakfast, you're already thinking about what you're going to eat next after that.

And that is really quieting down for people, as well as a easier time with portions, so eating -- still eating food that is enjoyable to them, but eating less of it and feeling satisfied.

Those are -- those are the main things that I hear from people who take these medications to lose weight -- to help with weight loss.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Couple of questions about the downsides of these things.

Do they work for everyone, and what are the side effects that patients experience?

DR. JODY DUSHAY: They work for many people, but they don't work for everyone.

There are nonresponders.

There is a significant minority of nonresponders.

In my clinical practice, that is probably about 10 percent; 10 to 12 percent of people don't respond to these medications.

We don't know why.

There aren't at the moment any clear predictors of response, but, certainly, there are nonresponders.

And in terms of side effects, they are very, very common.

Most commonly, people have reflux, nausea, a little less commonly kind of vomiting, constipation or diarrhea, either which can be severe, and also some less common side effects, such as fatigue.

But, overall, I do tell people that side effects are very common, and they should expect to experience some side effects.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: As you know, these drugs are extremely expensive in the U.S. And while they are demonstrating real effectiveness, that creates challenges with affordability and access.

How do you see that playing out in your own practice?

DR. JODY DUSHAY: Insurance coverage is a major problem.

So, at the moment, Medicare does not cover these medications for weight loss.

The exception is semaglutide.

It's covered for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

So that is the only way that you can Wegovy covered by Medicare.

And in terms of private insurances, either there is no coverage or you have to go through hurdles, meaning you have to try other medications and either not tolerate them or not have weight loss with them.

Or, sometimes, it's just a full stop with the private insurance.

They just will not cover medications for weight loss.

So access does remain a major problem, largely due to lack of insurance coverage and the very high cost of paying out of pocket.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Given their efficacy that you have seen, would you like to see insurance coverage broadened, including Medicare?

DR. JODY DUSHAY: Yes, definitely, especially for higher body weights and higher body mass indices, or for people who may have lower body mass indices.

However, they have significant metabolic comorbidities, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, pre diabetes.

If they have cardiovascular disease, as I said, they might be covered.

But, certainly, people who are in the high risk category due to comorbidities or to due to very, very high body weight, I would very much like to see expanded coverage.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: What do you make of the argument -- I'm sure you have heard this -- that, given their efficacy of helping people lose weight, that that in some way forces us to take our eye off the ball off of proper nutrition and exercise in this fight over obesity?

DR. JODY DUSHAY: These medications are meant to be prescribed only in combination with a program that is paying attention to nutrition and to physical activity.

So this is in the context of what someone is able to afford and physically do.

However, there always should be a component of nutrition counseling and also physical activity counseling as well.

So these medications are never meant to be used as a substitute for that, and always in combination for best health and also for optimizing how much weight loss you're going to get with these medications.

So you're going to get additional benefit if you pay attention to lifestyle.

They really are not meant at all to be a replacement for that.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Dr. Jody Dushay of Harvard Medical School, thank you so much for being here.

DR. JODY DUSHAY: Thanks so much.

AMNA NAWAZ: Last year, Barnes & Noble opened nearly 60 stores around the country and plans for 60 more to open in 2025.

It's the latest twist in a long-running saga for a company that's been a bellwether for the book business.

Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown continues our ongoing reporting on the book industry, part of our arts and culture series, Canvas.

JAMES DAUNT, CEO, Barnes & Noble: It's recognizably Barnes & Noble because there are lots and lots of books piled high, but it looks very different.

JEFFREY BROWN: A pre-opening walk through a Barnes & Noble bookstore, a maze of small rooms and pathways with company CEO James Daunt.

JAMES DAUNT: When you're very full, as this store often will be, it's creating space for people to drop into.

JEFFREY BROWN: This store on Manhattan's Upper East Side is just a-year-old.

It's part of a large nationwide chain, but, crucially for Daunt, has its own look and feel.

JAMES DAUNT: The key insight that I have is that it is about the bookselling team and it's about how you take all of this huge number of books and arrange them and display them in a manner which really engages with your local community.

The insight that gives me in terms of running lots of bookstores is, leave it to the teams in each store.

The vast majority of them will do it exceptionally well, and your stores will become better and busier and the business will thrive.

JEFFREY BROWN: Barnes & Noble's beginnings can be traced to 1873, but it was in 1971 that Leonard Riggio acquired its trade name and flagship Manhattan store and grew the company into the nation's largest bookseller, offering steep discounts and a huge selection, changing the landscape for how and where Americans bought books, eventually with more than 700 superstores all with the same titles and design.

ACTORS: One, two, three, four!

TOM HANKS, Actor: We don't want this superstore.

JEFFREY BROWN: Its success, along with Borders, put hundreds of smaller independents out of business, captured in Nora Ephron's 1998 film "You've Got Mail."

MEG RYAN, Actress: Can we save the Shop Around the Corner?

ACTORS: Yes!

JEFFREY BROWN: But Amazon, offering even steeper discounts and more supply, nearly killed off Barnes & Noble, which by the time Daunt arrived had closed hundreds of stores around the country.

JAMES DAUNT: Obviously, we have come back from the brink.

JEFFREY BROWN: The brink meaning the end?

JAMES DAUNT: Yes.

I mean, the business was a public company.

It was sold really pretty much for the value of the books that were sitting on its shelves.

So that's not a really very good sign of health.

The job that I had was to restore it as a bookseller.

JEFFREY BROWN: Daunt brought an unusual pedigree.

He'd launched Daunt Books in 1990 as an independent bookseller in a gorgeous London setting that became a destination for book lovers.

In 2011 he was hired to rescue Waterstones, Britain's largest chain bookstore, then near bankruptcy and, in 2019, after hedge fund company Elliott Advisors bought Barnes & Noble, to attempt the same here.

His success has gained attention, as, in recent years, Barnes & Noble began to open stores all over the country, even reopening a flagship Washington, D.C., store that had closed in 2012.

The new philosophy, have stores act and feel like an independent local shop.

Victoria Harty, assistant manager at this Upper West Side Manhattan store, has worked for Barnes & Noble for more than 10 years.

VICTORIA HARTY, Assistant Store Manager, Barnes & Noble: We used to be told what table to do, how to curate it, where that table should go, what angle that table should be on, and what discount that table potentially is going to have.

JEFFREY BROWN: Angle of... VICTORIA HARTY: Angle of the table.

So, it was very, very regimented.

There was no thought.

JEFFREY BROWN: These days, Harty and her counterparts see themselves as curators of individual tables and shelves, as well as the store itself, paying more attention to local consumers and to social media, most of all, TikTok's BookTok.

VICTORIA HARTY: It was a lot of young readers, almost this generation that was coming into physical bookstores looking for books.

So what I started to do with that was look at those titles, like what they were coming in for, and how do you take that one title and curate a display around it?

Like, what are those books that are similar, pairing them together and creating a bigger display from it?

JEFFREY BROWN: So fervent in his approach is Daunt that he makes Amazon, which today accounts for more than 50 percent of the market, sound like an ally.

JAMES DAUNT: I actually see Amazon as being a massive positive for what it is to be a great bookseller.

JEFFREY BROWN: How can it be a massive positive if it's taking 50 percent of the market?

JAMES DAUNT: What it's taken is all the boring books out of our stores.

We used to have great, huge medical sections that taught doctors and nurses and all the other professionals.

But those books are very boring.

No more.

You go onto Amazon, bump, it arrives through your letter box three minutes later.

JEFFREY BROWN: But surely people go to Amazon for more than just what you're calling the boring books?

JAMES DAUNT: Of course they do.

And if you buy Percival Everett's "James" from Amazon, it's the same Percival Everett I will sell you.

But if you come into this store to buy it, you will come in, you will be surrounded by other books, which you can browse and engage with.

Almost certainly you, will have another fellow customer saying, oh, have you read this by him?

Have you read that?

You will have an experience.

And when you walk out of the store with it in your bag, it will lift you.

It's the same book, but I promise you it's a better book and the reading of it will be more pleasurable because you bought it in a bookstore.

JEFFREY BROWN: That strategy applies to the nation's independent bookstores too, of course.

In fact, Barnes & Noble recently acquired one of them, Denver's much-loved, but bankrupt, Tattered Cover, a move being watched closely, locally and beyond.

Daunt says this.

JAMES DAUNT: Bookstores get into trouble.

What we now do as a chain is, we rescue them.

We give them a safe home.

We don't change them.

We don't change the people.

We don't change the name.

But we give them the structure of the large chain.

JEFFREY BROWN: An earlier plotline in this long saga was, Barnes & Noble is killing independents.

Now, they can coexist?

JAMES DAUNT: I think bookstores do coexist.

I'm -- my instincts are that of an independent bookseller.

I would never open up in a location where I believed that I was threatening an independent bookseller ever, because that's totally unnecessary.

We're in this vast country of ours with far too few bookstores.

So -- but it isn't a zero-sum game.

JEFFREY BROWN: It is a business, though, and Daunt has to answer to the company's owners.

The plot of this story, that is, is still being written.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Jeffrey Brown in New York.

AMNA NAWAZ: And, remember, there's always a lot more online, including a state lawmaker's top priorities for the new year.

That's at PBS.org/NewsHour.

And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

On behalf of the entire "News Hour" team, thank you for joining us.